


its so romantic in Paris

by hopewillkeepyoualive



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, F/M, there are probably other tags but, this is going to be a very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-11-24 15:45:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18167084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopewillkeepyoualive/pseuds/hopewillkeepyoualive
Summary: Carmilla is getting older and wants to find love because she doesn't want to be alone forever so she moves to Paris for an art job.ORCarmilla is in love with her best friend and needs to get away because she surely doesn't feel the same





	1. Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is just my way of letting some of my creative juices out. I am not editing this nor am I rereading it. If there are little sections where my brain rambles or jumps I am very sorry for that! I don't really know what this is or where it's going. I got the idea of this from the song called Paris by Sabrina Carpenter and was supposed to be a one-shot but here I am closing in on 5,000 words and haven't even gotten to Paris yet.
> 
> POV is also a little jumpy but be patient it gets better I promise!

Midnight. It was officially her 25th birthday, her and her twin brother William’s of course, one could never forget about William. The were both strikingly similar for fraternal twins of different genders. They both had stark raven hair and while Carmilla wore hers long with cascading curls Wills was short along the sides and long enough on the top where it would begin to curl as his sister’s did when it was time for a haircut. Their eyes were dark as the star-less night and would envelop anyone who dared look into them. Carmilla was shorter and slender and Will was of average height and a muscular frame from years of participation in athletics. Carmilla had never been one for mindless sport games as she would call them and would much rather spend her time getting lost in a book.

Laura was thinking about the twins as the clock struck midnight. They had all grown up together. Carmilla and Will had moved across the street when they were seven and Laura was six. Laura was an only child in a neighborhood that consisted mostly of elderly couples whose children were already grown and out of the house. The bright-eyed curious girl was thrilled when her dad told here there were some new kids coming to the neighborhood that were around her age. She never had anyone to play with and she was getting tired of playing the same make believe over and over again with her dolls. 

Laura shook herself out of the little memory she was in and jumped off her bed and ran through the slightly closed door across the hall and into the bed of her unsuspecting and sleeping roommate. 

“Happy birthday Carm!” The smaller brunette squealed with excitement. 

She was met with a groan as the darker haired girl rolled from her stomach to her back, “you know cutie there are better ways to wake a girl than by trying to break her back,” she said with a smirk.

“Oh come on Carm it’s your birthday you shouldn’t be asleep anyway! You know it’s our tradition to celebrate right at midnight.”

It was true, ever since they were young they would always ask their parents if they could spend the night with each other on the eve of one of their birthdays. They would stay up until midnight and when the clock hit they would give their gift. It was their thing and Laura made sure to keep it just between the two of them. Laura was equally close with Will when they were younger but anyone could see he was the favored child and this was Laura’s way of making Carmilla feel special. 

“I know, cupcake, we’ve been doing this since I turned 8 which is why I wasn’t worried if I fell asleep because I knew you would wake me up.” 

Carmilla’s voice was an octave lower than it normally was because she had been sleeping and Laura always loved that sweet sultry voice. 

There was a certain tension in the air that both girls felt. Laura and Carmilla were, as most would say, completely oblivious to how the one felt about the other. Perry and Lafontaine, the pairs best friends, would always make jokes about how they couldn’t wait for the wedding but the two brunettes would laugh it off because they were best friends, just really good best friends. 

Carmilla was looking into Laura’s eyes, they were a light golden brown color, a color that captured Carmilla’s heart from the first time she saw them, one she tried to replicate in her art but she could never get just right. Nothing could ever compare to the color in the girls eyes. She began to make a clever remark but Laura began to speak.

“So how does it feel to be a quarter of a century?”

“Ugh don’t remind me. I’m old as old can be probably turning into a statue as we speak.”

Laura laughed, “Carm really you aren’t THAT old even though sometimes you do act like you’re a centuries old vampire who has been scorned in her life.”

Carmilla could tell Laura was nervous for some reason because her normal giddy tone was a bit shaky. Laura was doing her best to hide her nervousness but her best friends could see right through it. 

Today was the day Laura was going to profess her love to Carmilla. She might have always joked it off in front of Carmilla when the Ginger twins (as Carmilla so nicely dubbed them so many years ago) would talk about how much they could see that the pair was meant be more than “best friends” but she knew her true feelings for the raven haired girl. She had loved her since high school. 

It was a normal day starting out like any typical Wednesday. Laura would always ride with Will and Carmilla to school. She sat in the back middle seat, something Carmilla always made fun of her for, she liked sitting there because she was better able to lean up to the twins in the front and insert her into whatever conversation they were having.  
This particular morning Carmilla was going off on some rant about something that had happened in her Philosophy class. She was listening to her go off about how the teacher knew nothing and was not at all qualified to teach Kant but Laura wasn’t listening. She was staring at the girl as the morning summer sun came through the windshield and illuminated her pale skin. The golden tones made her look so beautiful, almost as if they were adding a shimmer to her complexion. Laura smiled to herself and then in on instant her smile fell from her face when the realization hit her, she was in love with her best friend. 

“Earth to cupcake,” Carmilla waved a hand in front of Laura’s face pulling her out of the trance she was in. “So what did you get me?”

“Greedy aren’t we,” Laura said with a joking wink. Laura of course pulled out a handmade card from the back pocked of the jeans she had on and handed it to Carmilla. “This is just the starter, I have more for you later it’s just not quite ready yet.” Carmilla was used to getting handmade gifts from Laura, they always tried to do something small and inexpensive but meaningful and both girls were creative in their own ways and that usually resulted in the girls making something for the birthday gift. 

“Thank you Laura, this card is definitely one of your best to date!” The front of the card Laura attempted to draw a cupcake with ‘Happy Birthday’ written above and below it. Carmilla was the artist of the two, Laura was better with words. On the inside was a generic card quote Laura had stolen from a card she was looking at in the dollar store, another one of their inside jokes. 

“I’m glad you like it,” Laura beamed. 

“I love celebrating my birthday and all but I’m actually really tired, this had been a very long week. Can we just go to sleep and continue this in the morning?”

“Absolutely! You know the rules Carm, it’s your birthday which means every decision is yours to make.” In the next beat Laura was out of the room and back in a pair of extremely short shorts and one of Carmilla’s punk band t-shirts. Carmilla let her eyes linger on Laura’s toned legs as she took the girl in. She was always so intrigued as to how the girl was able to maintain her flawless physique on a diet that mainly consisted of cookies and grape soda. 

Laura ignored Carmilla’s staring if she noticed and climbed into bed with the darker haired girl. This was nothing new for them. It was more strange when their girls slept in their own beds without the other. No one could pinpoint when the bed sharing started. Laura’s dad was very strict about sleepovers during high school so there were none during the school week and they had gone to separate colleges over an hour away from each other. 

When they moved back to town and into a three bedroom apartment they shared with Perry and LaF it just happened. They were talking and catching up one night and Laura fell asleep and Carmilla dared not wake the sleeping girl, she looked the most peaceful when she slept. Carmilla was a night owl, she would stay up at night reading in the dimmed light listening to the sound of Laura’s even breaths. She lived for these quiet moments. 

After making herself comfortable under the covers Laura propped herself up on her arms, ”Goodnight Carm. Happy birthday.”

Carmilla smiled sweetly at the girl, “Sleep tight, cutie.”

Laura rolled over so her back was facing Carmilla and softly fell asleep. The dark haired girl smiled to herself and shook her head lightly and she too snuggled down into the bed and rolled facing the wall falling into a gentle sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Carmilla woke to the smell of coffee and bacon. Before she even rolled over she knew the other side of her bed was chilled being vacant for so long. Laura was an early riser even with getting to bed after midnight. 

She slowly got out of bed stretching a little because she was getting older and stiffer and threw on a sweatshirt because the mornings were chilly and Laura’s college sweatshirt was comfortable. 

“Oh good morning Carmilla, and happy birthday” Perry said from where she was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her herbal tea while reading the newspaper.

“Good morning,” Carmilla grunted, she wasn’t much for conversation before she had her coffee. 

“Vaaaammppp happy birthday dude,” the shorter haired ginger waved with the spatula in hand from where they were standing at the stove cooking the bacon. 

Carmilla smiled into her coffee cup after taking a sip of the delicious black liquid. “Thanks guys,” she looked around the kitchen and noticed someone was missing, “Where’s Laura?”

Perry and LaFontaine glanced at each other before they responded at the same time.

“No clue.”  
“Out.”

Carmilla squinted her eyes knowing something was up but choosing to ignore it. Laura was always one for surprises and she still hadn’t finished her coffee. She sat down across the table from Perry who had resumed reading the newspaper. 

“So Carm, what are you planning no doing today?” LaF spoke into the pan of bacon as she watched it cook. They had a habit of getting distracted while cooking and burning things and didn’t want to mess up today. 

“I haven’t thought of anything yet. I was thinking maybe just a chill day.” This year was a Saturday so none of the four girls had to work and Carmilla was hoping she could just spend the day with her three favorite people. They hadn’t really had much time to hang out all four of them with being busy with jobs and other adult commitments. 

“Just you and Laura?” 

“No brainiac I want all of us to hang out together, we don’t really get to hang out all four of us that much and I’m really missing all of my best friends,” Carmilla shyly smiled because she felt a little silly missing the people she lived under the same roof as.

“Carmilla that sounds beautiful, we would love to spend your birthday with you,” Perry pipped in at this point. Her and LaF were always a packaged deal. They were middle school sweethearts and have been together ever since so one was synonymous with the other. 

Laura made her appearance know by not so gracefully entering the room with luggage. 

“Laura what do you -“ Carmilla stopped her question when she noticed the woman towering behind Laura. “Mother!” Carmilla stood and ran over to her mother falling into her arms like she was five not twenty-five. 

Carmilla and her mother didn’t always have the best relationship but as time went on and Carmilla got older she understood why her mother was the way she was. She had been tasked with raising two babies by herself while running very successful company. Carmilla had never known her father and when she was younger she had always wanted to seek him out and ask why he left them, Will her and their mom, but now she had no need. Her mother was all she had ever needed. 

“Hello sweet angel darling it is so good to see you.” Lilita brushed some of the hair out of her daughters face so she could see her clearly. “You really should get some more sleep my girl you look very tired.”

Carmilla stepped back and rolled her eyes, “I’ll have you know mother I just got out of bed I haven’t even finished my coffee and you know how I am before. What are you doing here?”

Lilita nodded her head at Laura who blushed at the gesture, “This one here set everything up. She called me and said you had been missing me and thought it would be perfect for me to come in for your birthday. And seeing as you are asking me why I’m here I’m assuming she didn’t tell you I would be coming.” 

“No she did not,” Carmilla gave Laura a pointed look but the smile on her face betrayed the stern look she was trying to give. She walked over to the girl and hugged her, “thank you so much, cupcake.” 

The whisper only Laura could hear sent shivers down her spine and made little goosebumps rise on her skin. 

The five women got settled around the kitchen table and conversed over coffee before Lilita excused herself claiming she was tired from the travel and wanted to get freshened up. Carmilla walked her out to the Uber helping her get the luggage into the car.

“I’m so happy you could make it mother. Does William know you’re in town?”

“He does. He was asking about coming out for a while and I had to cave and tell him that I would be coming our for your birthday that way he didn’t waste a trip.”

“Ahh that makes sense. He is such a mammas boy of course he would be planning on going out to see you for his birthday.”

“Sweetheart I’m going to get going. I’ll be in town for a couple days and I would love to have lunch with you so we can talk more about Paris.”

Carmilla’s eyes widened a little she had almost forgotten in all the excitement of her birthday. She was working at a gallery in downtown Los Angeles since she had graduated from college and was getting bored with the job. It was the same thing over and over every single day. She had thrown around some applications for art jobs here and there and applied to an art museum in Paris just for fun. She was giving an interview via Skype and had just heard back from the curator of the museum that she was who they had selected for the position. She was shocked because she was sure she wasn’t going to get the position. She had until next Friday to decide if she was going to take the job or not. Her mother was the only one she had told about the job. Not even Laura knew. 

“Yeah absolutely mom, go get some rest I’ll call you later.”

Lilita gave her daughter a quick kiss on her forehead and slipped into the Uber and off she went to the hotel she was staying at.   
Carmilla was thinking about Paris as she went back into her apartment. 

She told her mother she applied because she wanted to challenge herself which was true. But she had ulterior motives for applying for that job as well. It was selfish but she knew she needed to get away from her best friend so she could finally move on. Carmilla had a crush on Laura for as long as she could remember, she thinks ever since the first day they met when the overconfident six year old practically pulled her father across the street to greet their new neighbors. 

Carmilla never acted on her feelings because her friendship was too important to her to mess up. She wasn’t shy in her feelings for girls, having many ‘girlfriends’ in middle and high school and dating girls in college. She got serious with some of the girls but there was always a point where Carmilla reached where she would know the girls weren’t right for her. She always found something wrong with them as if she were searching for something wrong. She left the girls feeling like they weren’t enough when in reality they just weren’t Laura. They were doomed from the beginning. 

Carmilla hoped that by going to a different college than Laura her feelings would go away, and they did for a while, but now that they were living together and spending almost every hour together when they weren’t at work, sleeping in the same bed she needed that space again. 

Laura would be devastated if Carmilla took the job in Paris but Carmilla knew it would be best for the girls in the long run. She knew she couldn’t keep going on the way they had been because her feelings were only getting stronger even though she was actively trying to get them to do the opposite. 

Carmilla knew that if she decided to take the job in Paris that Laura would be absolutely devastated much like she had been when she told the younger girl that she would be attending a different college. They would make it through this, right?

The morning went much like Carmillla had anticipated. She sat around her small living room with Laura, Perry, and LaFontaine watching the news and then some crazy Saturday morning cartoons. At some point Perry had gotten up and started cleaning around the apartment, she was never one for sitting still for too long and this had left Carmilla, Laura, and LaFontaine all snuggled up on the couch. 

Carmilla could smell Laura’s shampoo and she closed her eyes and thought to herself, I’m definitely going to Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the love on the first chapter! I'm thinking I'll probably end up posting once a week probably Tuesday's or Wednesday's :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short, I haven't really gotten the chance to write much seeing as I worked almost 60 hrs last week and I've been exhausted.
> 
> also I know in the first chapter I was all Laura is gonna tell Carm how she feels, yeah that didn't happen so I'm sorry

Two days later Carmilla was sitting at a small diner in town with her mother. 

“So tell me again Carmilla, how did you hear about this Paris job?”  
“Mother I’ve told you so many times now. I was on one of those job posting sites and it popped up and I decided to apply for it on a whim.”

“And of course they were so amazed by you and your intelligence that they had to offer you the job! I am so proud of you Carmilla. Do you think you’re going to accept their offer?”

“I do. They said something about having an apartment set up for me that is available for six months with the possibility for an extension if I like the location and everything. I would have a roommate but I already have three so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. The pay is comparable to what I’m making now and I wouldn’t have to worry about work visas or anything since I have dual citizenship in France.”

Lilita and her ex-husband were living in France on an Air Force when the twins were born. The twins had no real memories of France because they were so young when they left. Their parents had split and Lilita took the kids back home to the states so she could be closer to family. 

“I think this could be an excellent opportunity for you darling. What does Laura think?” Lilita knew Carmilla harbored a crush on Laura, call it mother’s intuition. 

“Umm,” Carmilla stammered, “I haven’t exactly told her yet.” Carmilla looked sheepishly up through her growing bangs. 

“I see. And is there any reason you haven’t told her yet? You two tell each other everything.”

“No I just haven’t gotten around to it.” Both women knew the younger girl was lying about the real reason she hadn’t told her best friend. “I didn’t think I would ever have a shot at actually getting the position.”

“When would you leave?” Lilita said trying to change the subject away from Laura as she could see it was bothering her daughter.

“I have to let them know in three days that I am accepting the position and then I would leave the first of the month. So that would be eighteen days from today.” 

“That is very quick my dear. You should tell her sooner rather than later.”“I know, mom. I was planning on telling her tonight actually.” 

“That’s good honey. And you know I am the first call you make if there is anything you need.”

“Thank you mother.” 

The two women fished their meal and Carmilla dropped Lilita off back at her hotel. She had some conference call she had to make for her business. 

Carmilla picked up her phone and hit speed dial number three. ‘William’ popped up on the screen as she listened to his awful ringback tone. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure kitty cat.” She could hear the smugness through the phone. Her brother knew she hated that nickname but refused to call her anything else. 

“Are you home?”

“Yeah, why? I thought you were having lunch with mom today.”

“I just dropped her back at her hotel. I’ll be over in ten minutes.” Carmilla hung up not waiting to hear a response from Will. 

Carmilla pulled up in front of Will’s house, yes house, when their grandmother died she left the twins each a good sum of money and while Carmilla used most of it to pay for college and invest the rest into an account Will decided to buy his own house saying ‘he didn’t want to have to pay the man every month when he could just buy something outright.’

She knocked on the front door and didn’t wait until she opened it. She called Will to give him a heads up that she was coming partly because he took forever to answer the door and this way he would unlock it so she could just go in.

“Not that I don’t love seeing my sister but what are you doing here? What’s up?” Will was sitting on the couch watching a soccer game played by two teams Carmilla didn’t recognize. 

“I have to tell you something.” Will noted the look on his sister’s face and muted the television giving her his undivided attention.

“Are you going to come out to me again because you’re giving me the same look you did as when you told me you are gay.”

“Shut up Will.” Carmilla paced back and forth across the room. “No I’m trying to tell you something that no one else knows. And you know that because of the twin creed you can’t tell anyone, not a single soul.”

“Carm, what-“  
“I’m in love with Laura,” the girl cut him off, “and I’m moving to Paris.”

Will began to laugh at the first statement because everyone and their mother knew she was in love with Laura but stopped shortly when the realization of the second statement hit him. His sister had said she was moving to Paris.

“WHAT? You’re moving to Paris? Are you kidding? Why? What? How? When?”

“Will stop you’re starting to sound like a grammar problem. I applied for a job there and somehow got it.” She began to tell Will about the job and what it was and as she talked she settled into the chair across from her brother, suddenly not so nervous. 

“Wow that’s amazing lil sis. That going to be totally sweet. And you better bet that I’m going to come and visit you so make sure you find out where all the hot Parisian girls are.”

Carmilla smiled at her brother and laughed. 

“What do you think about the other thing I said?”

Will looked at Carmilla dumbfounded, “Carm, that’s not a surprise. I’ve known you’re in love with her sine I read your diary.”

“YOU READ MY- wait you knew?”

“Yes, Carmilla, and you really aren’t that subtle when you look all googley-eyed at her.” Will leaned toward his sister, “Is that also part of the reason you’re moving to Paris?”

“Yeah,” Carmilla said with a sigh, “I need to get away from her for a little so I can get over her. We’re best friends, she doesn’t see me that way.”

“What ever you say kitty cat. What did she say when you told her?”

Carmilla just looked at the floor and picked at her nail.

“You didn’t tell her yet did you? Oh this is going to be good. When are you telling her I want to witness this?!”

“Oh my god you are insufferable.” Carmilla stood and walked toward the door. She grabbed the handle about to turn it, “Hey Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Any time sis, big brother is always here to listen.” Will winked at his sister, she hated that he was three minutes older than her and he never let her forget it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this please let me know! You can find me on Tumblr at the same URL as on here! Leave comments on here or message me on there to let me know if I should continue posting this piece! Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> P.S. do work a full time job and don't always have time to write so I don't know how regularly there will be updates :)


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